GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Starwood Capital Group, a leading private investment firm, announced today that an affiliate has acquired a portfolio of nine commercial office buildings located predominately in the Sun Belt region of the United States. The buildings were purchased from Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II, Inc. (Wells REIT II) for a combined purchase price of $260.5 million.

The total portfolio includes 1.9 million square feet of Class A office space in urban and suburban areas. The buildings are located in Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City and have an average year of completion of 1999. The buildings are currently 95 percent leased, excluding Salt Lake City, and more than 80 percent of the in-place income is derived from investment grade tenants.

"We are pleased to have worked with Wells REIT II to reach an agreement to acquire a critical mass of high quality properties with strong tenant rosters that generate significant cash flow," said Mark Keatley, Senior Vice President at Starwood Capital. "Most of these buildings are located in markets with outsized job and population growth projections."

"This transaction is an excellent opportunity for Starwood and its investors that perfectly fits our investment strategy because it generates strong cash on cash returns, it was purchased significantly below replacement cost per square foot and is located in markets where there is limited new supply," said Chris Graham, Managing Director at Starwood Capital.

About Starwood Capital Group Global, LLC

Starwood Capital Group is a private, U.S.-based investment firm with a core focus on global real estate. Since the group's inception in 1991, the firm has raised over $16 billion of equity capital and, through its various funds, has invested $13.7 billion representing $36 billion in assets. Starwood Capital Group currently has over $22 billion of assets under management. Starwood Capital Group maintains offices in Greenwich, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago, and affiliated offices in London, Luxembourg, Paris, Mumbai and Sao Paulo. Starwood Capital Group has invested in nearly every class of real estate on a global basis, including office, retail, residential, senior housing, golf, hotels, resorts and industrial assets. Starwood Capital Group and its affiliates have successfully executed an investment strategy that includes building enterprises around core real estate portfolios in both the private and public markets. Additional information about Starwood Capital can be found at www.starwoodcapital.com.

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